What year will the first <$1000 receiver with at least 4 HDMI inputs come out?

One of the reasons I didn't put years above 2007 is that I remembered an old HDMI press release that had a HDMI input for $15 and a HDMI output for $12, both of which supported 8 channel audio at 24-bit/96-kHz PCM. With 4 inputs and one output the HDMI components would be $72. Even if the cost of the encryption and internal connections doubled the price that would still be a cost of under $150.


HDMI is the standard connection for HDTV the same way that composite was for SDTV. A HDMI output will even be found on at least one, and probably all three, of the next generation video game consoles. The simplification of audio/video connections is one thing that the consumer electronics (CE) industry understands and can sell to consumers. They can simply show the consumer 3 video cables and 8 audio cables and then show them a single HDMI cable and say that it can do everything those 11 cables can do. Besides the CE industry wanting to sell new products Hollywood will also be pushing HDMI in an effort to make component video but a memory. For instance it it guaranteed that every Blu-ray/HD-DVD player will have an HDMI/DVI-HDCP output, which incidentally will include the PS3, making future AV receivers far more likely to have HDMI inputs and more of them. Though AV enthusiasts understand the video and audio quality that HDMI delivers it will be HDMI's simplicity that will make it successful.

Quote:
If a 3x price increase is taken into account then by 2006 the additional price for adding 4 HDMI inputs will be no more than $60. It may even be lower if manufacturers develop a 4-input HDMI receiver, which seems quite possible to me considering that dual input HDMI receivers have been available for over 6 months. After further research I found out that the HDMI receiver in the press release was actually a dual input HDMI receiver. The SiI 9031 is a dual input HDMI receiver that can do up to 8 channels of 24-bit/96-kHz PCM and has DVD-A capability with a price of $15. This means that the component price for 4 HDMI inputs and 1 HDMI output is $42 and by 2006 that price should drop to around $20. Even with a 3x price markup adding 2 ($15) dual input HDMI receivers and 1 ($12) HDMI transmitter should cost an additional $120 today and no more than $60 by 2006 .